COMMERCIAL DESCRIPTIONThis is our massive Russian-style Imperial Stout aged for one year in a brandy barrel with Madagascar vanilla beans. Thick, smooth, complex, and warming, this rare beer with certainly be remembered.

Draught @ Mikkeller Bar, during 3Floyds Night 2011. The beer everybody was waiting for, the cue at the Bar was huge ! Pitch black with virtually no head. Vers sweet aroma of roasted malt, coffee,chocolate, a tiny bit of bourbon and very overpowering vanilla. Very thick mouthfeel, taste of roasted malts, cofee,chcolate,molasses, wood, and again huge vanilla taste. While being a great brew , I think that the vanilla aroma and taste could have stepped down a bit.

Sampled from a bottle at the Three Floyds XV anniversary. Again, thank you to the guy that let me try this. Black, oily dark pour with a tan head. The beer stains the glass only the way Dark Lord can. Huge, sweet aroma with tons of vanilla and brandy. Mild fruitiness imposed from the brandy. The vanilla and brandy are just off the charts dominating the aroma. Some notes of chocolate, fruit and oak. Flavor is a wash of vanilla, chocolate, and brandy fruitiness. Quite impressive, actually. Touches of truffle and candies. Normally you’d think this might be a bit too sweet for my tastes but something about this beer makes me open up to it. I enjoyed it quite a bit.

6.5oz hand bottle from tap & shared with Weisguy. Pours a thick, viscous black with no head, but is still carbonated after nearly 2 months in the bottle. Smell is vanilla, sweet brandy, chocolate, & oak. Taste is pretty sweet, but works well with the vanilla & fruity brandy notes. Best described as "tootsie roll" like by Shane. Mouth feel is full and has the right amount of carbonation (low). Finishes sweet, with no detectable boozy-ness. There’s no way to taste the 15.5 ABV on this. Very impressive and much more enjoyable than regular Dark lord for me.

Is there a rare beer Diego won’t share? (No. The answer is no. Although this might actually be Hopscotch’s but that guy is a jerk. Just kidding I love you Eric.)
A lot of brandy. Somehow, this actually works; the vanilla creamer sweetness of regular VBDL is subdued and you actually notice you’re drinking a beer with flavors instead of a kid’s drink with fusel alcohol thrown into the mix. Not overwhelmingly complex, not too fussy, just a tasty interpretation of a tasty beer.

Bottle number 191/433 thanks to alen. Pours with a not quite, but very viscous pitch black body with no head, but some legs on the side of the glass. Huge, strong and gloriously brash aroma. Chewy, fudge, vanilla, oak, chocolate and booze. Vanilla "up the wazoo"! Dark fruit notes, and brandy. Flavors are also quite chewy, oaky, fudge, milk chocolate, nougat, dark fruits, brandy, warming. Very viscous with light bubbles and tons of booze. Sweet, not quite diabetes inducing, but up there. Cream soda, chocolate, raisins. Oily palate. Long duration. Really hot but also really tasty.
Rating #5400.

And again, Huge thanks to phaleslu for sharing this delicious brew! Tasted 7/8/11. 22oz bomber. Bottle #44/433. Pours pitch black with a trace ring of head. There’s a huge vanilla note in the nose with a subtle cola nuance to go along with it. Awesome nose!!! Full bodied, rich, thick, sticky, cloying and amazing! A great cream soda sweetness offset by the ample alcohol burn. Nice tingling effervescence. So good! The vanilla amps up the brandy aspect and compiles the sweetness of the brew. Sticky finish and so good! The combination of the brandy barrel and the vanilla really adds to the already amazing base imperial stout! This was by far my favorite of the bunch! Truly black gold!

A: The pour is thick and black in color with a small khaki colored head.
S: Smells like I’d expect it to: brandy, booze, and a huge vanilla aroma. There’s quite a bit of coconut, marshmallow, and graham cracker, too. A mild roast note with a touch of oak and some sweet chocolate.
T: A very intense chocolate sweetness with a bit of oak. Lots of brandy and a decent booziness. Like the aroma, sweet graham cracker, marshmallow, and almost excessive amounts of vanilla. A very mild roast which can’t even begin to quell the sweetness.
M: Very full bodied with low, smooth. carbonation.
O: Normally I’m not the hugest fan of the overly sweet, sugary beer, but this was great.

UPDATED: JUN 9, 2012 A: Dark black body. Super thin, dark khaki ring. No defined head or lacing.
S: Assault of vanilla bean and chocolate. The nose is intense and quite wonderful.
T: Fizzles a bit as the vanilla, chocolate, light brandy and boozey heat are a little too raw.
M: Spritzy, a tad overcarbonated and slightly cloying towards the end. Almost cola-like in feel. Slight warming feeling from the booze.
O: An interesting experiment in raw, unbridled vanilla warfare. I could not imagine drinking anything more than three ounces unless two scoops of vanilla ice cream were dropped into this bad boy. Now that would be fucking delicious.

Join us! RateBeer is made by beer enthusiasts for the craft beer community.
Your basic membership is free and allows you to read all beer ratings.
Click here to create your account... and give your opinion!